Wages in the United States increased 4.72 percent in May of 2025 over the same month in the previous year. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United States Wages and Salaries Growth - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

In March 2025, inflation amounted to 2.4 percent, while wages grew by 4.3 percent. The inflation rate has not exceeded the rate of wage growth since January 2023. Inflation in 2022 The high rates of inflation in 2022 meant that the real terms value of American wages took a hit. Many Americans report feelings of concern over the economy and a worsening of their financial situation. The inflation situation in the United States is one that was experienced globally in 2022, mainly due to COVID-19 related supply chain constraints and disruption due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The monthly inflation rate for the U.S. reached a 40-year high in June 2022 at 9.1 percent, and annual inflation for 2022 reached eight percent. Without appropriate wage increases, Americans will continue to see a decline in their purchasing power. Wages in the U.S. Despite the level of wage growth reaching 6.7 percent in the summer of 2022, it has not been enough to curb the impact of even higher inflation rates. The federally mandated minimum wage in the United States has not increased since 2009, meaning that individuals working minimum wage jobs have taken a real terms pay cut for the last twelve years. There are discrepancies between states - the minimum wage in California can be as high as 15.50 U.S. dollars per hour, while a business in Oklahoma may be as low as two U.S. dollars per hour. However, even the higher wage rates in states like California and Washington may be lacking - one analysis found that if minimum wage had kept up with productivity, the minimum hourly wage in the U.S. should have been 22.88 dollars per hour in 2021. Additionally, the impact of decreased purchasing power due to inflation will impact different parts of society in different ways with stark contrast in average wages due to both gender and race.

United States Median Wage Growth: 12-Mo Mov Avg: Lower Half of Wage Dist data was reported at 4.300 % in Apr 2025. This records a decrease from the previous number of 4.500 % for Mar 2025. United States Median Wage Growth: 12-Mo Mov Avg: Lower Half of Wage Dist data is updated monthly, averaging 3.800 % from Dec 1997 (Median) to Apr 2025, with 329 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 7.300 % in Nov 2022 and a record low of 1.600 % in Jan 2011. United States Median Wage Growth: 12-Mo Mov Avg: Lower Half of Wage Dist data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.G114: Atlanta Fed Wage Growth Tracker: 12-Month Moving Average.

Average Hourly Earnings in the United States increased 0.20 percent in June of 2025 over the previous month. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United States Average Hourly Earnings - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Key information about United States Monthly Earnings

• United States Monthly Earnings stood at 4,901 USD in Feb 2025, compared with the previous figure of 4,887 USD in Jan 2025
• US Monthly Earnings data is updated monthly, available from Mar 2006 to Feb 2025, with an average number of 3,469 USD
• The data reached the an all-time high of 4,901 USD in Feb 2025 and a record low of 2,743 USD in Mar 2006

• In the latest reports, US Population reached 341 million people in Dec 2024
• Unemployment Rate of US increased to 4 % in Feb 2025
• The country's Labour Force Participation Rate remained the same rate at 62 % in Feb 2025

Graph and download economic data for Employed full time: Median usual weekly real earnings: Wage and salary workers: 16 years and over (LES1252881600Q) from Q1 1979 to Q1 2025 about full-time, salaries, workers, earnings, 16 years +, wages, median, real, employment, and USA.

When adjusted for inflation, the 2024 federal minimum wage in the United States is over 40 percent lower than the minimum wage in 1970. Although the real dollar minimum wage in 1970 was only 1.60 U.S. dollars, when expressed in nominal 2024 dollars this increases to 13.05 U.S. dollars. This is a significant difference from the federal minimum wage in 2024 of 7.25 U.S. dollars.

VITAL SIGNS INDICATOR Jobs by Wage Level (EQ1)

FULL MEASURE NAME Distribution of jobs by low-, middle-, and high-wage occupations

LAST UPDATED January 2019

DESCRIPTION Jobs by wage level refers to the distribution of jobs by low-, middle- and high-wage occupations. In the San Francisco Bay Area, low-wage occupations have a median hourly wage of less than 80% of the regional median wage; median wages for middle-wage occupations range from 80% to 120% of the regional median wage, and high-wage occupations have a median hourly wage above 120% of the regional median wage.

DATA SOURCE California Employment Development Department OES (2001-2017) http://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/data/oes-employment-and-wages.html

American Community Survey (2001-2017) http://api.census.gov

CONTACT INFORMATION vitalsigns.info@bayareametro.gov

METHODOLOGY NOTES (across all datasets for this indicator) Jobs are determined to be low-, middle-, or high-wage based on the median hourly wage of their occupational classification in the most recent year. Low-wage jobs are those that pay below 80% of the regional median wage. Middle-wage jobs are those that pay between 80% and 120% of the regional median wage. High-wage jobs are those that pay above 120% of the regional median wage. Regional median hourly wages are estimated from the American Community Survey and are published on the Vital Signs Income indicator page. For the national context analysis, occupation wage classifications are unique to each metro area. A low-wage job in New York, for instance, may be a middle-wage job in Miami. For the Bay Area in 2017, the median hourly wage for low-wage occupations was less than $20.86 per hour. For middle-wage jobs, the median ranged from $20.86 to $31.30 per hour; and for high-wage jobs, the median wage was above $31.30 per hour.

Occupational employment and wage information comes from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program. Regional and subregional data is published by the California Employment Development Department. Metro data is published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The OES program collects data on wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments to produce employment and wage estimates for some 800 occupations. Data from non-incorporated self-employed persons are not collected, and are not included in these estimates. Wage estimates represent a three-year rolling average.

Due to changes in reporting during the analysis period, subregion data from the EDD OES have been aggregated to produce geographies that can be compared over time. West Bay is San Mateo, San Francisco, and Marin counties. North Bay is Sonoma, Solano and Napa counties. East Bay is Alameda and Contra Costa counties. South Bay is Santa Clara County from 2001-2004 and Santa Clara and San Benito counties from 2005-2017.

Due to changes in occupation classifications during the analysis period, all occupations have been reassigned to 2010 SOC codes. For pre-2009 reporting years, all employment in occupations that were split into two or more 2010 SOC occupations are assigned to the first 2010 SOC occupation listed in the crosswalk table provided by the Census Bureau. This method assumes these occupations always fall in the same wage category, and sensitivity analysis of this reassignment method shows this is true in most cases.

In order to use OES data for time series analysis, several steps were taken to handle missing wage or employment data. For some occupations, such as airline pilots and flight attendants, no wage information was provided and these were removed from the analysis. Other occupations did not record a median hourly wage (mostly due to irregular work hours) but did record an annual average wage. Nearly all these occupations were in education (i.e. teachers). In this case, a 2080 hour-work year was assumed and [annual average wage/2080] was used as a proxy for median income. Most of these occupations were classified as high-wage, thus dispelling concern of underestimating a median wage for a teaching occupation that requires less than 2080 hours of work a year (equivalent to 12 months fulltime). Finally, the OES has missing employment data for occupations across the time series. To make the employment data comparable between years, gaps in employment data for occupations are ‘filled-in’ using linear interpolation if there are at least two years of employment data found in OES. Occupations with less than two years of employment data were dropped from the analysis. Over 80% of interpolated cells represent missing employment data for just one year in the time series. While this interpolating technique may impact year-over-year comparisons, the long-term trends represented in the analysis generally are accurate.

Real Wages Index: Same Month PY=100 data was reported at 99.200 Same Mth PY=100 in Nov 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 100.000 Same Mth PY=100 for Oct 2018. Real Wages Index: Same Month PY=100 data is updated monthly, averaging 102.800 Same Mth PY=100 from Jan 2006 (Median) to Nov 2018, with 153 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 122.200 Same Mth PY=100 in Mar 2007 and a record low of 87.300 Same Mth PY=100 in Mar 2016. Real Wages Index: Same Month PY=100 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by The Agency of Statistics of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Kazakhstan – Table KZ.G034: Real Wages Index: Same Month Previous Year=100.

The minimum wage per day guaranteed by law in Mexico was decreed to increase by approximately 12 percent between 2024 and 2025, reaching 278.8 Mexican pesos in 2025. The Northern Free Zone located near the northern border was the exception, where the minimum daily wage increased to 419.88 Mexican pesos. Education and income disparity The income distribution is entirely a new story than minimum wages, in fact, there are many factors that influence the level of salaries for Mexican workers. One of the main differences is by the number of schooling years, someone with more than 18 years of study earns on average double than employees with seven to nine years. Moreover, the area of study, while statistics and finance mean salaries, the highest wages by degree, are above 30,000 Mexican pesos per month, others such as performing arts and theology rank as the lowest paying degrees in Mexico.
Poverty still among the main problems
Despite one of the main reasons for minimum wage increases being moving people out from poverty conditions, poverty continues to be one of the main problems Mexican society faces. The number of people living under poverty conditions has decreased by 8.54 million inhabitants from 2014 to 2022, nonetheless, the figure is still higher than 46.5 million. The poverty rate varies among states, with Chiapas leading the ranking with 67.4 percent of the population under such conditions, while both Baja California and Baja California Sur recorded less than 14 percent.

Wages in Spain decreased to 2290.46 EUR/Month in the first quarter of 2025 from 2442.32 EUR/Month in the fourth quarter of 2024. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - Spain Average Nominal Monthly Wage - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Russia Average Monthly Wages: OKVED2: Prev Month=100: TS: Air Transport data was reported at 97.400 Prev Mth=100 in Oct 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 103.900 Prev Mth=100 for Sep 2018. Russia Average Monthly Wages: OKVED2: Prev Month=100: TS: Air Transport data is updated monthly, averaging 99.200 Prev Mth=100 from Feb 2017 (Median) to Oct 2018, with 21 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 139.700 Prev Mth=100 in Jun 2018 and a record low of 76.100 Prev Mth=100 in Jul 2017. Russia Average Monthly Wages: OKVED2: Prev Month=100: TS: Air Transport data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal State Statistics Service. The data is categorized under Russia Premium Database’s Demographic and Labour Market – Table RU.GC005: Average Monthly Wages: by Activity: Previous Month=100.

Wages in Russia increased to 97645 RUB/Month in March from 89646 RUB/Month in February of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - Russia Average Monthly Wages - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Wages in Romania decreased to 9187 RON/Month in May from 9415 RON/Month in April of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - Romania Average Gross Monthly Wages - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Wages in Croatia decreased to 1439 EUR/Month in April from 1448 EUR/Month in March of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - Croatia Average Monthly Wages - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

In May 2025, real wages in Japan decreased by *** percent compared to the same month of 2024, according to preliminary figures. Since 2023, the sharpest decline in real wages of establishments with five or more employees was recorded in January 2023 at *** percent.

Wages in Germany increased 1.20 percent in March of 2025 over the same month in the previous year. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - Germany Wage Growth - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

In September 2024, the disposable personal income in the United States increased by 0.3 percent from the previous month. The data are in current U.S. dollars, seasonally adjusted at annual rates. Disposable personal income in the United States According to the BEA, personal income is the income that is received by persons from all sources. It is calculated as the sum of wage and salary disbursements, supplements to wages and salaries, proprietors' income with inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustments, rental income of persons with capital consumption adjustment, personal dividend income, personal interest income, and personal current transfer receipts, minus contributions for government social insurance. In simple terms, disposable personal income is the total remaining income after taxes paid; it is the income available to persons for spending or saving. It is useful to economists because it measures the amount of money available for spending in a specific area. Disposable personal income is a significant indicator of an economy’s health. Personal income determines an individual’s ability to consume goods and services, i.e. personal consumption expenditure, and industries producing consumer goods and services contribute heavily to United States gross domestic product. The retail trade industry, for example, contributed 1.38 trillion chained U.S. dollars to the GDP of the United States in 2021. Total real GDP amounted to about 22.99 trillion U.S. dollars that year. The arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation and food services industry contributed 839.6 billion U.S. dollars to the GDP in 2021. Personal income in the United States was 21.06 trillion U.S. dollars in 2021, the highest value in over ten years.

Wages in Japan decreased to 335164 JPY/Month in May from 338252 JPY/Month in April of 2025. This dataset provides - Japan Average Monthly Wages - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Wages in India increased to 21103 INR/Month in the second quarter of 2024 from 21036 INR/Month in the first quarter of 2024. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - India Average Daily Real Wage Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.